Editorial cartoon was in bad taste

October 06, 2004|The Morning Call

Regarding the Sept. 27 editorial cartoon by David Horsey, which depicted a smiling President Bush saying, "War means never having to say you're sorry": Readers have seen many tasteless cartoons reprinted in The Morning Call, but this one is beyond the pale. In this country, bad taste can be viewed as freedom of expression and clearly, hateful speech is a right that must be protected. Good journalistic practices, however, require a different standard.

Editors should understand the difference between biting sarcasm and bad taste. The editor of the opinion pages has demonstrated poor judgment in his decision to carry this cartoon and others.

Politics is a rough business and has been nasty as of late. The paper could do its part to end this by setting a standard of propriety.

D. Scott Armstrong

Allentown

The writer is the Allentown coordinator for the Lehigh County Republican Committee. Editor